Directly Linking Low-Angle Grain Boundary Misorientation to Device Functionality for GaAs Grown on Flexible Metal Substrates.

A new growth method to make highly oriented GaAs thin films on flexible metal substrates has been developed, enabling roll-to-roll manufacturing of flexible semiconductor devices. The grains are oriented in the <001> direction with <1° misorientations between them, and they have a comparable mobility to single-crystalline GaAs at high doping concentrations. At the moment, the role of low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) on device performance is unknown. A series of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and cathodoluminesence (CL) studies reveal that increased doping concentrations decrease the grain size and increase the LAGB misorientation. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) reveals the complex dislocation structures within LAGBs. Most importantly, a correlative EBSD/electron beam-induced current (EBIC) experiment reveals that LAGBs are carrier recombination centers and that the magnitude of recombination is dependent on the degree of misorientation. The presented results directly link increased LAGB misorientation to degraded device performance, and therefore, strategies to reduce LAGB misorientations and densities would improve highly oriented semiconductor devices.

Shelf life stability comparison in air for solution processed pristine PDPP3T polymer and doped spiro-OMeTAD as hole transport layer for perovskite solar cell.

This data in brief includes forward and reverse scanned current density-voltage (J-V) characteristics of perovskite solar cells with PDPP3T and spiro-OMeTAD as HTL, stability testing conditions of perovskite solar cell shelf life in air for both PDPP3T and spiro-OMeTAD as HTL as per the description in Ref. [1], and individual J-V performance parameters acquired with increasing time exposed in ambient air are shown for both type of devices using PDPP3T and spiro-OMeTAD as HTL. The data collected in this study compares the device stability with time for both PDPP3T and spiro-OMeTAD based perovskite solar cells and is directly related to our research article "solution processed pristine PDPP3T polymer as hole transport layer for efficient perovskite solar cells with slower degradation" [2].

Versatile Role of Solvent Additive for Tailoring Morphology in Polymer Solar Cells for Efficient Charge Transport.

In this work role of solvent additive namely 1,8 diiodoctane (DIO) on the nanoscale morphology and its relation with the charge transport of poly(diketopyrrolopyrrole-terthiophene) (PDPP3T):PCBM solar cells has been investigated. Addition of DIO led to enhanced structural ordering as observed from optical measurements. Photovoltaic devices processed with DIO additive showed improved efficiencies due to significant enhancement in short circuit current density. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) images showed that DIO led to finer phase segregation that gave rise to better photovoltaic performance in additive processed active layers. Photoinduced current extraction by linearly increasing voltage (P-CELIV) measurements on PDPP3T:PCBM solar cells revealed higher mobility and extracted charge carrier density for DIO processed devices.

Enhanced Lifetime of Polymer Solar Cells by Surface Passivation of Metal Oxide Buffer Layers.

The role of electron selective interfaces on the performance and lifetime of polymer solar cells were compared and analyzed. Bilayer interfaces consisting of metal oxide films with cationic polymer modification namely poly ethylenimine ethoxylated (PEIE) were found to enhance device lifetime compared to bare metal oxide films when used as an electron selective cathode interface. Devices utilizing surface-modified metal oxide layers showed enhanced lifetimes, retaining up to 85% of their original efficiency when stored in ambient atmosphere for 180 days without any encapsulation. The work function and surface potential of zinc oxide (ZnO) and ZnO/PEIE interlayers were evaluated using Kelvin probe and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) respectively. Kelvin probe measurements showed a smaller reduction in work function of ZnO/PEIE films compared to bare ZnO films when aged in atmospheric conditions. KPFM measurements showed that the surface potential of the ZnO surface drastically reduces when stored in ambient air for 7 days because of surface oxidation. Surface oxidation of the interface led to a substantial decrease in the performance in aged devices. The enhancement in the lifetime of devices with a bilayer interface was correlated to the suppressed surface oxidation of the metal oxide layers. The PEIE passivated surface retained a lower Fermi level when aged, which led to lower trap-assisted recombination at the polymer-cathode interface. Further photocharge extraction by linearly increasing voltage (Photo-CELIV) measurements were performed on fresh and aged samples to evaluate the field required to extract maximum charges. Fresh devices with a bare ZnO cathode interlayer required a lower field than devices with ZnO/PEIE cathode interface. However, aged devices with ZnO required a much higher field to extract charges while aged devices with ZnO/PEIE showed a minor increase compared to the fresh devices. Results indicate that surface modification can act as a suitable passivation layer to suppress oxidation in metal oxide thin films for enhanced lifetime in inverted organic solar cells.

Interfacial Study To Suppress Charge Carrier Recombination for High Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells.

We report effects of an interface between TiO2-perovskite and grain-grain boundaries of perovskite films prepared by single step and sequential deposited technique using different annealing times at optimum temperature. Nanoscale kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) measurement shows that charge transport in a perovskite solar cell critically depends upon the annealing conditions. The KPFM results of single step and sequential deposited films show that the increase in potential barrier suppresses the back-recombination between electrons in TiO2 and holes in perovskite. Spatial mapping of the surface potential within perovskite film exhibits higher positive potential at grain boundaries compared to the surface of the grains. The average grain boundary potential of 300-400 mV is obtained upon annealing for sequentially deposited films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra indicate the formation of a PbI2 phase upon annealing which suppresses the recombination. Transient analysis exhibits that the optimum device has higher carrier lifetime and short carrier transport time among all devices. An optimum grain boundary potential and proper band alignment between the TiO2 electron transport layer (ETL) and the perovskite absorber layer help to increase the overall device performance.